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It’s not imposing, it’s loving

To the Colossians, Paul wrote: “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone” (Colossians 4:6).

Keep that in mind for a moment.

There’s a story about a man who went to India and struck up a friendship with a woman. She had never heard about Jesus. So he started telling her about him, about the love, truth, forgiveness, purpose and peace he offers—not only to people in his part of the world, but to people everywhere; it is open and equally accessible to all.

As he spoke and talked about Jesus, a smile came across her face.

When he had finished talking, she said, “Thank you so much. I have always loved this person you describe, and now you have told me his name.”

The woman had a deep, inner longing for a personal encounter and relationship with God. And then someone helped her put the pieces together.

It reminds me of what the French mathematician and theologian Blaise Pascal is reported to have said: “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of each man which cannot be satisfied by any created thing but only by God the Creator, made know through Jesus Christ.”

Sometimes we think that talking about Jesus or our faith is somehow “imposing” on someone. But it’s not. If we are, as Paul recommended, “full of grace” and “seasoned with salt,” we may be helping them connect with the God whom they are already longing for—the One who offers love, truth, forgiveness, purpose and peace.

“Thank you so much,” she said. “I have always loved this person you describe, and now you have told me his name.”

Talking about Jesus isn’t imposing on someone, it’s loving someone.

By Matthew Ruttan

–Part 1 in my new teaching series called Armageddon is a conversation I had with Dr Brian Irwin. He has a big brain, big heart, and is super-engaging. You can listen in here.
–Bible quotes are from the NIV.